I’M NOT MARY McGEE
Jamie Pamintuan, Del Amo Motorsports By Rick Doughty
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oving to America, racing motocross and being a pioneer in the powersports industry is part of the fabric that makes up Jamie Pamintuan’s life. Now a senior service writer for the largest family of dealerships in Southern California, she has overcome bullying, discrimination and RWA “Racing While Asian” before hate crimes were in the headlines, just a fact of life. While there were plenty of tears, Jamie kept her eye on the prize. World Minis, the legendary Mammoth Motocross and qualifying for the Women’s Motocross des Nations team were among the highlights that kept her coming back. After career ending injuries caused her to get into the business side, she applied herself to working in a dealership. However, something was missing and she recently got back into racing the American Retrocross series, just for fun. “My whole family is involved, so it put the fun back in racing for me.” However she doesn’t see herself as a pioneer: “I have met Mary McGee and have a lot of respect for her and all she has done. I am not Mary McGee! She is a real pioneer. All the women like me who ride and race today are following the trail she blazed. As for overcoming similar obstacles, well yes and no. There is nothing we face today that compares to what Mary was up against, but motorcycle racing is still a predominantly male sport and women are the exceptions. When you are the exception you are different. When you are different you are going to be perceived and in some cases treated differently. Gender aside, most people don’t ride or race motorcycles, so that in and of itself makes us all different from the norm.” So you are NOT Mary McGee, but you are a pioneer and role model. Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you born? Angeles City, Philippines How old are you? 42
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You currently work at Del Amo Motorsports in Long Beach, CA. Yes I do. I have been there a long time. What is your position? I am the Senior Service Writer. Are you perceived differently than your male counterparts? Sometimes to most of the time but it doesn’t bother me. Sometimes a person will come in and want to talk to a guy, so I will hand them off to another employee. Then when they ask a question that the other employee can’t answer, they come ask me. Makes me laugh inside. When did you start riding and why? I was 11. After we moved from the Philippines to Long Beach, my Dad started racing at Ascot and it became a family thing. I saw kids racing, mostly boys, and I wanted to do it. Eventually my parents bought me a used YZ80 from the PennySaver, but my Dad wouldn’t let me ride it. Instead, he put it on a bike stand and let me sit on it. I would practice using the clutch and shifting. That just made me more interested. Soon I started asking questions about starting it, braking and how things worked. It was torture not to ride, but the garage practice paid off. One day I went out to the garage and took the bike off the stand and started it. I did all the things that I had been practicing and before I knew it, I was riding down the driveway and headed for the street. Luckily no cars were coming and I successfully turned right on to the road. I even executed a U-turn without crashing! However, on the way back to the house I veered into a metal fence and in the process ended up with some scars on my leg to mark my first ride. Years later, my folks said they watched me from the living room window to see how I was going to do. They could have run out
